Apparatus for emptying liquid tanks

ABSTRACT

A hollow storage receptacle including a lower gravity flow outlet having inlet and outlet ends. A powered fluid pump is operatively associated with the receptacle and includes a fluid inlet, other than the gravity flow outlet, for intaking fluid from within the receptacle and a fluid outlet nozzle. The outlet end of the outlet nozzle is of smaller diameter than, aligned with and positioned adjacent the inlet end of the gravity flow outlet for discharging a jet of fluid into said outlet in the manner of an eductor.

' United States Patent 1 221 Filed Council W. Williams P.0. Box 1197, Rocky Mount, N.C. 27801 [2]] Appl. No. 793,654

Jan. 24, 1969 Jan. 19, 1971 [72] inventor [45] Patented {54] APPARATUS FOR EMPTYING LIQUID TANKS 8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 222/178, 222/192, 302/28 [51] Int. Cl A62c 39/00 [50] Field ofSearch l69/l3, 24;

239/124, 125, 127; 2l4/(lnquired); 222/1 1 1, 109, 145,178, 126, 4,193; l98/(lnquired); 293/69; 105/358, 3160;280/5', 302/28 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,561,039 11/1925 Walker"...

2,774,516 12/1956 Jensen 302/28X 2,964,302 12/1960 Tombu 222/ l 93X 3,229,853 1/1966 Sacco 222/178X 3,234,962 2/ l 966 Williamson 169/ 1 3X Primary Examiner-Stanley H. Tollberg Assistant Examiner-Norman L. Stack, Jr. Attorneys-Clarence A. OBrien and Harvey B. Jacobson ABSTRACT: A hollow storage receptacle including a lower gravity flow outlet having inlet and outlet ends. A powered fluid pump is operatively associated with the receptacle and includes a fluid inlet, other than the gravity flow outlet, for intaking fluid from within the receptacle and a fluid outlet nozzle. The outlet end of the outlet nozzle is of smaller diameter than, aligned with and positioned adjacent the inlet end of the gravity flow outlet for discharging a jet of fluid into said outlet in the manner of an eductor.

PATENTEUJANIEHHYI 3556 351 i 32 30 5 32 24 f 22 I/ 1 Council W. Williams I v INVENTOR. 65 62 WWW mg.

.Thisinvention rclates to a novel meansof rapidly emptying a nature tobepumped liquids from tanks when the liquid is of under pressure. i a

. The invention ,lends itself most favorably. to tanker units of rural fire'departments where the ability'to unloadthe'water I swiftlyfromthetank of ,the tankerinto'a suitable reservoir such as'a portable tank. is atgreat asset 'in rnany; instances. Most. raral fire, department tanker units. are provided with pump water onto the'fire ..As soonlas thetanker. has emptied its tanks into the pro, portable tank. .it isfree to travel the necessary distance to a suitable supply. of water and be refilled with water and then return to the scene'of the fire. possibly be fore the pumpers at the scene of the tire have exhausted the supply of waterin the portabletank. Howevenit can be .appreciated that the time required to 'empty the, tanker intothe portable tankmust be kept ataminimum inorder to'allowthe and opposite end walls26 and 28.

' pumps which maybe used to pu'inpa stream of water ona fire and also a-large gravity flow outlet from which the tanker may I be emptied into a portable tank. such as thatdis closed in U.S.

. Pat. No. 2,749,956. While some tankersinclude pumps. and 1 some tankers may notinclude pumps. when a portable tank, is

utilized at a f re location. remote frornga supply of water the tanker has its water drained or pumped therefrorrt; into the portable tankfrom which the pu'mpers at the firejscenemay tanker the maximum length of timefto'travehto'a suitable supply of water, ref ll and thenretum to the scene of the fire before the pumpers'at the fire scene .haye emptiedthe. portable tank.

A 1.000 gallon tanker 'is capable, of discharging. itsfull supply of water into a portable tank through a 4% inches outv 1 the tanker l0 is provided with a pumpass embly 52 which may v Referring now more specifically tothe drawings. the numeral 10 generally designates-a conventional form of tanker truck which has been modified in accordancewith the present invention. The truck 10 includcs the. usualcab IZ'and bodyl4. In addition, the {tanker 10 includes a' tank construction referred to in general-bythe reference numeral 16 including topandgbottom walls 18 and 20. oppositc sidewalls 22 and 24 i I Thctank 16 includes a longitudinal center partition and longitudinally spaced upstanding transverse partitions 32. The upper and lower corners of the transverse parti- 'tions 32 are cut away asat '34 and the longitudinal partition 30 is cut away in a similar manner as at 36 adjacent each transversev partition 32 and the opposite end walls '26 and 2 8;

v The preceding description of the tank 16 as conventional except that the cutaway portions 3 1 and 36 are larger than usual in order to allow more rapid'flowof bedriven either by a powertakeoff of thc tanker ltlorby an let in approximately 5 minutes. with the .apparatusof the instant invention, in operationZ'the-same l .000 gallon ,tankergcan discharge its load of water in approximately 55 seconds thereby affording least an additional 4 minutes time fofr the ,tanker to travel to a suitable source of watenbe refilled and then return to the fire scenenThus it can be appreciated. how

beneficiat the apparatus1of the. instant ,inv ention'can be in fightingtfires in rural communitiesi: In order for :1 L000 gallon tanker to be emptied in. approximately, 55 seconds it is necessary that it be provided with a pumplof suitable capacityv hav-. ing approximately a 2% inches suction line. a 2 inch pump discharge line. a. [VI "inch ejector nozzle and a 4% inch tank dump line with the ejector no'zz'le pressure being approximately.50'pounds per square-inch and discharging 265 gallons per minute from the pump;

The main object of this invention is to-provide a rapid dump i system for tanker trucks. Another object of this invention is to provide a rapid dump system which may be readily incortrucks.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a rapid dump system which may be readily practiced in other environ- A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated hereinis to provide a rapid dump system in accordance with the preceding objects which will conformto conventional forms of manufacture. be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economi-' porated into the construction of various fire fighting tanker cally feasible. long lasting and relativelytrouble-free in operation.

These'together with other objects and advantageswhich will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of con struction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed. reference being had to j the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout; and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side schematic view of a tankerunit; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the tank portion of the tanker unit with portions thereof being broken away and illustrated in longitudinal vertical section; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon theplane indicated by the section line3-3ofFlG. 2. Y

auxiliary power supplytnot shown), 'lihe pump 52 includes a 2% inchtsuction line 54 which is valved as at 56 and whose inlet end opens intothe bottom of the sump 50. The outlet end of the suction line-S4 opens into the pump casing 58 as at 60 and the, pump casing ;58 includes a 2 inch .diseharge line 62 which'is val'vedas at .64and opens into the interior of the tank. llthrough-the front wall 28 thereof and extends along the fora ward end of the trough 38 and has an eductor nozzle 66 on its outlet end aligned with'and spaced slightly outwardly of the inletend of the 4% inch tank dump line 44. In operation. when it is desired to. emptythe tank 16 into a portable tank such as that diselosecl in U.S. PatNo. 2. 749.956.- the pump 52 is actuatedwhereby water ispumped through the eductor nozzle .66 at approximately 50 pounds per square inch and at a rate of 265 gallons per minute from the pump 52. This discharge of water from the nozzle 66 reduces thep're'ssure of water in the inlet end of the tank dump line ,44 .and accelerates the flow of water therethrough whereby the: entire L000 gallons within thetank '16 maybe emptied therefrom in approximately 55 seconds. as opposedto approximately S-minutes if the eductor .nozzle 66 and pump 52 were not used.

Although the tank dump system of the instant invention has been specifically illustrated and described herein as being a' part of a tanker truck. it is to be noted that it could be readily utilized for rapidly'emptying various tanks containing various fluids. Furthermore. a compound eductor nozzle could be utilized in lieu of nozzle 66. I

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further. since numerous modifications and changes will-readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and. accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to. falling within the scope of the invention.

' I claim:

1. ln combination, a fluid storage tank having a lower gravity flow outlet including inlet and outlet'ends. a powered fluid pump operatively associated with said tank and includinga fluid inlet, other than said outlet, for intaking fluid from within said tank anda fluid outlet nozzle of smaller diameter than said inlet end withits outlet end aligned with, adjacent and opening outwardly toward said inlet end. i I

2. The combination of claim 1 fherein said fluid storage tank is supported upon a wheeled vehicle.

3. The'combination of claim 2 wherein said wheeled vehicle comprises a tanker-type fire engine.

may, be considered tank and pump are supported from a tanker-type flre engine chassis.

6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tank includes internal baffle means provided with sufficient void areas to enable rapid but controlled movement from one area of said tank to another area.

7 In combination, a fluid storage tank having a lower gravity flow outlet including inlet and outlet ends. a powered fluid pump operatively associated with said tank and including a fluid inlet other than said outlet, for intaking fluid from within said tank and a fluid outlet, saidfluid outlet including eductor nozzle means operatively associated with said gravity flow outlet for accelerating the fluid flow therethrough in response to operation otsaid pump means v v 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said fluid storage tank and pump are supported from a tanker-type fire engine chassis. 

1. In combination, a fluid storage tank having a lower gravity flow outlet including inlet and outlet ends, a powered fluid pump operatively associated with said tank and including a fluid inlet, other than said outlet, for intaking fluid from within said tank and a fluid outlet nozzle of smaller diameter than said inlet end with its outlet end aligned with, adjacent and opening outwardly toward said inlet end.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said fluid storage tank is supported upon a wheeled vehicle.
 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said wheeled vehicle comprises a tanker-type fire engine.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tank includes a bottom wall and an upstanding sidewall, said bottom wall defining an upwardly opening trough extending therealong toward said sidewall, said gravity flow outlet including a large diameter pipe disposed in said trough with its outlet end opening outwardly through said sidewall, said outlet nozzle being disposed in said trough.
 5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said fluid storage tank and pump are supported from a tanker-type fire engine chassis.
 6. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tank includes internal baffle means provided with sufficient void areas to enable rapid but controlled movement from one area of said tank to another area.
 7. In combination, a fluid storage tank having a lower gravity flow outlet including inlet and outlet ends, a powered fluid pump operatively associated with said tank and including a fluid inlet, other than said outlet, for intaking fluid from within said tank and a fluid outlet, said fluid outlet including eductor nozzle means operatively associated with said gravity flow outlet for accelerating the fluid flow therethrough in response to operation of said pump means.
 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said fluid storage tank and pump are supported from a tanker-type fire engine chassis. 